McHugh Closes In
22/11/07…SSA Media Release
Jamie McHugh has narrowed the gap to series points leader Wayne Brims following round six of the Ian Boettcher Volkswagen Super Sedan Championship Series at Brisbane International Speedway on Saturday night (November 17). Having qualified on the outside front row, McHugh powered his Ian Boettcher Race Parts Mazda RX8 to his third feature win of the season.
On a night when new contenders emerged to stake their claim, McHugh and Brims were still the dominant performers with the latter finishing in third spot after qualifying fourth, maintaining the series lead by a reduced margin. Thus far in 2007/2008, Brims and McHugh remain the only drivers to have experienced feature race success in Super Sedan Association competition with three wins apiece.
However, Sunshine Coast-based Peter Warren made every effort to upstage the series protagonists with a strong run into second spot. Warren started his North Coast Concreting Monte Carlo in position three and ran strongly throughout to secure a comfortable runner-up result.
Rockhampton’s Michael Doblo finished in fourth spot, demoted from a podium position by Brims in the closing stages of the event. Craig McGeorge was the big mover through the field, advancing his AS Concrete Pumping Pontiac Grand Prix from position 12 to finish a fine fifth and take over fourth position in the series standings. Barry Craft was next in line ahead of Victorian youngster Ashley Bergmeier, who is using these events to prepare for his upcoming National Super Sedan Series campaign.
Wayne Miles and Trevor Brehmer were the only other finishers from another small field. Those who failed to go the distance included Dean Hawkins, Des Korn, Frank Armstrong, Paul Geary and Allan Robertson.
The preliminaries produced some major surprises with Dean Hawkins and Geoff Phillips emerging as the top qualifiers. After surging from position 7 to finish second in heat three, Phillips was victorious in heat six to secure pole position for the Dash. Hawkins, meanwhile, finished third in his opening heat and also followed up with a win to secure the other front row berth in the Dash. Also collecting heat wins were Warren and McHugh, while both Brims and Geary finished amongst the top three in both their outings.
The Dash saw Hawkins outpace Phillips to win the 6-lap sprint, with McHugh finishing third ahead of Warren, Brims and Geary. Unfortunately for Phillips, he was unable to take his place on the grid for the feature, promoting McHugh onto the front row.
The supporting AS Concrete Pumping Development Series events saw Lee Noon and Alex Jenner share the spoils in the heats before Jenner triumphed in their feature race over Brehmer and Dempsie Pails.
2007/2008 Ian Boettcher Volkswagen Super Sedan Championship Series progressive pointscore (top ten): Wayne Brims 955, Jamie McHugh 851, Ian Brims 500, Craig McGeorge 445, Steve Pearce 424, Chris Albert 352, Barry Craft 338, Des Korn 290, Darren Kane 272, Peter Warren 194
Results
Heat One: 1. Lee Noon, 2. Rodney Craft, 3. Trevor Brehmer, 4. Maurie Williams, 5. Colin Moss
Heat Two: 1. Peter Warren, 2. Wayne Brims, 3. Paul Geary, 4. Des Korn, 5. Allan Robertson
Heat Three: 1. Jamie McHugh, 2. Geoff Phillips, 3. Dean Hawkins, 4. Michael Doblo, 5. Frank Armstrong
Heat Four: 1. Alex Jenner, 2. Trevor Brehmer, 3. Rodney Craft, 4. Craig Goodrum, 5. Colin Moss
Heat Five: 1. Dean Hawkins, 2. Allan Robertson, 3. Wayne Brims, 4. Frank Armstrong, 5. Craig McGeorge
Heat Six: 1. Geoff Phillips, 2. Paul Geary, 3. Michael Doblo, 4. Ashley Bergmeier, 5. Barry Craft
Dash: 1. Dean Hawkins, 2. Geoff Phillips, 3. Jamie McHugh, 4. Peter Warren, 5. Wayne Brims, 6. Paul Geary
B Main: 1. Alex Jenner, 2. Trevor Brehmer, 3. Dempsie Pails, 4. Rodney Craft, 5. Lee Noon
Feature Race: 1. Jamie McHugh, 2. Peter Warren, 3. Wayne Brims, 4. Michael Doblo, 5. Craig McGeorge, 6. Barry Craft, 7. Ashley Bergmeier, 8. Wayne Miles, 9. Trevor Brehmer, DNF – Frank Armstrong, Dean Hawkins, Paul Geary, Des Korn, Allan Robertson
The 2007/2008 Ian Boettcher Volkswagen Super Sedan Championship Series is supported by the following sponsors:,
Ian Boettcher Volkswagen, Australian Garages and Carports Wholesale, Sport Engines, Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Racer Pro, Miami Smash Repairs, Art By Mickey, Hoosier Racing Tyre, AFCO Shock Doctor, Ian Boettcher Race Parts, UMR Engines
